Calling In Sick
by Cayster
Summary: What happens when Lucas and Peyton, who now consider each other best friends, are stuck in their apartment with a relentless cold all week long? [Complete]
1. Rude Awakenings and Pills

"Calling In Sick" by Cayster

Summary: What happens when Lucas and Peyton, who now consider each other best friends, are stuck in their apartment with a relentless cold all week long?

DISCLAIMER: I do not own "One Tree Hill" or anything remotely close to the wonderful show. Pity on my part.

Chapter One: Rude Awakenings and Pills

Coughing and sneezing erupted violently from Lucas Scott's congested chest. It was only three in the morning, but Lucas knew that going to work and enduring his terrible cold there was out of the question. He got up out of his rather cozy bed and staggered over to his bathroom and looked through his medicine cabinet.

"Cold medicine, cold medicine, cold medicine," Lucas mumbled stuffily and softly to himself as he searched for the 'PM Relief' pills.

Since his eyes were watery and red they were causing great hindrances for Lucas to find his much needed remedy. Finally he found the orange box on the counter the whole time, where he had left it after dinner, and sleepily pulled the tab of the box back. He reached into the slim box and pulled out the last square container which safely held two red and orange pills.

Lucas then started to pick at the corner of the container and agitatedly tried to pull at the corner until finally he got a large enough piece of aluminum like paper and started to pull slowly. Just as he was doing so someone rounded the corner quickly and appeared in the bathroom's doorframe, which frightened Lucas and caused him to pull the paper off the capsule container quicker and sent the pills flying into the air and then falling down the sink's drain.

"Hey jackass! People like me," Peyton pointed to herself, her eyes were red and watery as well, "would like to get a decent night's rest, but I can't since you're making all this racket!"

She looked at the medicine box on the pedestal sink and then to the empty packet of pills Lucas was holding. Peyton was as well dealing with the nasty little cold Lucas was given. As a matter of fact, nearly everyone on the campus was infected by the cold.

"You did not just have the last cold pills?" Peyton more exclaimed than questioned.

"No," answered Lucas truthfully, "they flew out when you scared me half to death."

Peyton paused for a second and then sneezed loudly. Lucas quickly grabbed the Kleenex box and handed it to her. In turn, she took a tissue out of the box and blew into it; Lucas looked on in a pitying fashion. He was the one who had given the cold to her and she liked to remind him every chance she got.

Peyton then threw the tissue away and looked up at Lucas menacingly. "So you're telling me," Peyton pointed to herself once again, Lucas was a little intimidated by that fact, but he was also slightly amused by it too, "that the pills have flown away?"

"Yes," Lucas said with a smirk on his face and marched groggily out of the bathroom and back towards his room.

Peyton stalked after him unable to drop the 'pill' issue just yet. "Oh no you don't, Luke!" She called stuffily as he plopped himself blearily on his bed. "I'm not going to let you go fall to sleep until you run out and buy more medicine," Peyton continued bossily with her arms crossed and sniffed involuntary again as a result of her runny nose.

Lucas turned over and smiled into his pillow; he loved getting a rise out of his roommate. He didn't move any muscles apart from those that contracted his evil grin.

"Scott, I'm warning you," Peyton half-yelled, it was actually really funny how the cold affected her voice, "I'm not in the mood to be ignored— not at all!"

He couldn't help letting a small laugh escape him. Lucas heard Peyton huff resolutely and then out of no where, he was jumped on.

"Gerroff!" Lucas shouted to the best of his ability as he tried to overpower her, but it was futile since she was on top of him so she was basically in control.

Peyton's evil laughs told him that she was successful with agitating him, at least to her standards.

"Really Peyt, get off me!" Lucas cried out as she continued to lay on him trying to make it really agonizing for him.

She smiled as she heard him and then pulled her golden curls back into a ponytail to keep them from falling into her face; she must've wanted to see his discomfort clearly. "Nope, not until you do as I say, buster!"

For some sickening reason— well aside from actually being sick— Peyton loved torturing Lucas this way.

"No," Lucas said determined to stay in bed until his eyes stopped irritating him senseless. "Get it yourself," he added offhandedly.

"Well, I'm not going to move unless you go get the medicine." Peyton said calmly, but her placid tone freaked Lucas out more than her upset nature.

Grudgingly, Lucas clenched his fists together and said, "Fine, whatever."

Peyton smiled down at him brightly; whether he would admit it or not, Lucas was always captivated by its radiance, but he aside that thought quickly because Peyton was still lying on top of him causing his legs to fall asleep. Peyton wasn't overweight or anything but deadweight added a lot of extra pain.

"Now can you get off me?" Lucas barked throwing his arms up in exasperation.

Peyton laughed as she rolled off him and onto the other side of the bed. "I would think you would've liked it, Luke. After all, you love it when girls are all over you."

Lucas laughed sarcastically, "Right, I'm into girls throwing themselves at me."

"I'm glad you finally admitted it." Peyton said as she got under the covers and reached for a tissue on his night stand.

Lucas ignored her as he pulled on a sweatshirt over his white t-shirt and slipped on his white Nikes. He just kept his black shorts on; there was no reason to change out of them even though it was getting chilly since fall was coming to a close.

"See you," Lucas said as he left his room and grabbed his keys off the kitchen counter.

"Bye," he heard Peyton call back as he opened the door.

In all honesty, Luke hadn't had a single girlfriend, friends with benefits relationship, or fling since he had been enrolled to UNC. Lucas just didn't feel like it was right or okay, for some reason. It wasn't because girls on the campus didn't notice him or didn't think he was boyfriend material, actually many girls did throw themselves at him because he was on the basketball team, but Lucas just didn't give in to their very tempting offers. Many guys on the team thought he was gay, but when Nathan told them about his triangle relationship with his roommate and her best friend a few years back, they all thought he was a true ladies man and didn't rag on him any longer.

Peyton though had a few relationships when she hit the campus, much to Lucas's dismay. He had to deal with her boyfriends eating his pizza, drinking his beer, and playing on his XBOX. It royally pissed him off, but he kept his mouth shut. Peyton liked them and they made her happy for the time being and they didn't ruin too much in the mix either. Lucas had to admit, not openly of course, that he did get a little jealous every now and then when he saw Peyton hug or kiss her boyfriend at the time. He thought it was just his bond he had with her was trying to protect her and nothing more, even though he never had fully gotten over Peyton, but he never thought about that ever since he went out with Brooke three years ago during their senior year at Tree Hill High. Besides, Peyton was his roommate and his closest confidant.

She had grown to be his best friend ever since she moved into his apartment last minute two years ago. Peyton was thinking about getting a dorm, but Lucas offered her his other bedroom as long as she splits rent with him and she obliged. Ever since then, they had grown close because they had to; they both had to deal with loss at the same time. When his Uncle Keith died in a car accident, Lucas barely ate, spoke, or even left his room for a few weeks. Nathan and Haley tried to cheer him up and get him out of there, but that only hacked him off more. It was Peyton who knew how it felt to lose someone that you loved, after all she had to deal with the same thing since childhood, and she was the one who helped him out of his depressive state. Peyton was the only with patience and compassion when he needed it the most and he was forever grateful.

He walked down the staircase from the third floor quickly, even though he was sick, he was in no mood to be out long because he wanted to go back to sleep. Lucas was down in the lobby in no time and pushed the entrance/exit door open roughly and cool air immediately ran over his face and through his hair. The early morning breeze felt nice, but it felt odd to be out this early before the sun had even risen; he should come out around this time more often, it felt serene.

The store was only a block away which was very convenient for them since they didn't have to travel very far at all to get what they needed at anytime they felt like it; a quick walk down the street was all it took.

The bright lights of the store burned his already watery eyes, but this caused them to water slightly more to his consternation. He marched on though and entered the intensely lit store.

"May I help you sir?" The clerk behind the counter asked as Lucas stopped to look up at the signs in the middle of each aisle for 'medicine.'

Lucas scratched the back of his head and smiled, "Ugh, yeah. Which aisle is the cold medicine in?"

The clerk thought quickly, "Aisle Seven, it's near the back."

"Thanks," Lucas said as he headed towards the back quickly while looking up for the number seven and spotted it in the middle. He rushed over there and went down the aisle looking for the orange box for the exact cold medicine that was helping him a lot and found it a few seconds later. He grabbed one box and then stopped in thought.

"Should I get another one, too?" Lucas asked himself softly as he grabbed another one. "Yeah, might as well save the time for getting another one just in case."

Lucas went back up to the counter where the store clerk was standing, looking bored. The tall, gruffy brunette smiled as Luke was seen coming towards him.

"Hi," the clerk said, "did you find everything okay?" It was like he was ordered to ask this question because he asked it in a monotone voice.

"Ah, yeah, perfectly." Lucas said as the clerk started to ring up the two medicine boxes.

"You're total is $5.32," he said bagging the two boxes. "Would you like a recite of your purchase?"

Lucas reached into his sweatshirt's pouch and pulled out his wallet and got out six dollars. "No thanks, go ahead and keep the change," he said handing the money to the clerk and then grabbing the bag.

"Hey," the clerk shouted as Lucas started walking off, "I just wanted to say good luck next Friday against Duke."

Lucas smiled back at the clerk, "Thanks!"

The clerk waved and smiled as Luke headed out the door and then said something inappropriate about Duke, which caused Lucas to laugh for a while.

A few minutes later, he was unlocking the apartment door and opened the door quietly. Knowing Peyton she had fallen asleep and he did not want to wake her again and be berated once more. So he closed the door cautiously and softly laid his keys on the kitchen counter and then headed into the bathroom and restocked the two cold medicine boxes into the medicine cabinet.

Out of no where another fit of coughing evaded Lucas loudly.

"Crap," Lucas whispered hoping that that hadn't woken up Peyton if she had fallen asleep. He stood there silent for a couple of seconds listening if he could hear movement, but nothing made a sound.

Lucas then tiptoed out of the bathroom and towards his bedroom trying to be as silent as he could. His bedroom door wasn't closed and he could see Peyton sleeping peacefully on his side of the bed. He smiled to himself as he took off his shoes and then walked over to his closet and took off his sweatshirt and hung it up.

When he turned around he saw two beautiful hazel eyes staring at him and a gorgeous smile to match them.

"Hi," Peyton greeted sleepily as she pushed the covers off of her and sat up. "I guess I'll meander over to my room now."

Lucas waved his hands, "Nah, go ahead and stay in here. It's not like we haven't ever shared a bed before, at least not since Keith…" He didn't finish his sentence; Lucas still couldn't put himself up to saying 'passed away' or 'died.' Both of those sayings just caused an invisible knife to sear his heart.

Peyton looked a little shocked, but she recovered her foothold. "All right, but I get this side of the bed."

"Yeah, yeah I know," Lucas said as he walked around to the other side of the bed and eased himself slowly on to the bed. He could sense a little tension now radiating off of Peyton. She hadn't shared a bed with him in a sixth months and even then she had a boyfriend so she must've felt secure enough to be able to sleep in the same bed with him. He could easily understand her awkwardness towards the situation.

So Lucas cleared his throat and got under the covers, "Well, ugh good night, Peyton."

"Good morning, Luke," Peyton said followed by a small giggle.

"Yeah, good morning instead." Lucas said softly and he fell into a deep slumber of harmony.

Author's Notes:

Well that was just the first chapter of probably three to five, I don't know. I actually came up with this story while I was reading the latest Harry Potter book and I had to stop reading to write the first couple of paragraphs down in my journal. Funny when inspiration hits when you're bored and disappointed.

I do hope that you enjoyed the first chapter. I thought I provided some good back story as to why they were living together and some of the recent intimate relationships they had had. Believe me, something will develop between these two friends and it's not going to happen in the next chapter either. Give time for the story to develop (like in two chapters) and you'll see some real L/P action.

Please tell me your thoughts on the story so far because I'm a nervous wreck when I unveil any story to readers so I definitely need some reassurance from anyone who reads it. Thanks so much to all of you who do take the time to read this story; it's definitely not going to be a 7-15 chapter story like "Hold On" and "Further" so you're not going to have to wait a while to see the conclusion of this story than for the other two. So I hope you like this so far and if you don't I would love to hear why and if you have any constructive criticism too, I would also like to hear it. Thanks so much!


	2. Untitled

**Chapter Two:** Untitled 

**QuickNote:** No, the title is not taken from Simple Plan's "Untitled" but I have to say that I felt that there's really no title that would really give this chapter an overview in a few simple words.

Instead of being blinded by the bright morning sun like she expected that wasn't the case when Peyton opened her sleepy hazel eyes, which were unusually watery and red. The open blinds depicted a dark and rainy scene, but on an ordinary day held a gorgeous view of a green park.

For some strange reason, Peyton felt bizarrely comfortable and safe this morning. She couldn't remember when she felt this secure and guarded since she was an innocent child immune to death or loss.

But the question was why. Why did she secretly feel this tangible emotion each time she was in Lucas's arms? She was over and done with him since their junior year of high school which felt like a millennium ago to her. It didn't hurt her to see him with her best friend on their senior year and he annoyed the crap out of her when he left the toilet seat up as if waiting for her to slip and fall in it. He was faulty! She couldn't handle faultiness because she was covered head to toe with it herself.

She couldn't deny one thing though, Lucas had experienced death just like she had; practically the exact same way as she had. Keith died when he ran a red light, so did her mom. He was running late to Lucas's toughest game he would ever play; her mom was running late to pick her up from school. Lucas took Keith's death like she had with her mom's passing, hard and broken.

Even though he carried himself differently since the fatal accident, even more broody and quiet, he still was able to make her laugh and feel needed. Lucas always contained that in his character even when he was down in the slumps as well. None of her past boyfriends were able to do that, not even Jake who had been the reason for her soberness. Lucas was incomprehensively different. He was more compassionate, understanding, and he knew the best ways to make her feel better.

Peyton unconsciously snuggled closer to Lucas. And then out of no where, a very extraordinary kind of curiosity hit her, what would it feel like to hold his hand? His arm was protectively wrapped around her waist as he slept very serenely and the temptation to intertwine her fingers with his was very awe-inspiring.

Her heart beat began to race as she cautiously moved her hand closer to his, as if she was undergoing a very meticulous experiment that could mean the end of the world. Finally, Peyton fingertips brushed his still, soft hand. Once she made contact with his hand it was like ecstasy and yet it felt sinful at the same time, which caused it to be even more enticing.

Lucas's hand was callous and soft at the same time. Basketball must've made it so coarse with all of the years he spent bouncing the ball. Peyton couldn't remember how his hands felt, sure she had held them before when they were secretly going-out, but she somehow forgot them. Now, as she intertwined her fingers with his she remember those old feelings being renewed and electrified inside her that she had closed away a few years back. It was like finding a treasure that you had lost a long time ago and being filled with joy and happiness when you stumble across it sometime later. But she couldn't feel that way, it was dangerous and errant.

Unknowingly, a small smile had spread across her lips and a fiery look in her eyes had appeared.

Suddenly, Lucas shifted slightly and Peyton hastily yanked her hand out of his. The quick movement must've made him curious since he shifted even more and peered down at his blushing roommate.

"Peyton?" Lucas asked sleepily, squinting a little in thought.

Peyton smiled awkwardly up at him, "Yeah, Luke?" She was hoping that she was playing the role of innocence well enough.

Lucas just laid back down and slowly took his arm off of her waist. "Ugh, nothing. Never mind, I just thought— well— never mind."

Peyton quietly thanked her lucky stars for Lucas skipping an inquiry. A few seconds later, she turned onto her back and looked directly up at the ceiling, but she could feel his piercing gaze on her, so she was fixed to not look over at him. Oddly enough, it didn't make her uncomfortable or squirmy like it did when anyone else did. She just guessed that it was because she had nothing to "hide" necessarily from Lucas; he knew every possible thing about her— more than Brooke even.

All of a sudden Lucas started to cough severely; Peyton could hear all of the phlegm being hacked up and it kind of made her nauseated.

"Are you all right there?" She asked as she finally looked at him.

He only nodded as he reached over her and picked up his throat spray off of his night stand. It seemed like he was avoiding eye contact when he was in the act of practically being on top of her to get it.

As he finally finished with this task, he started to spray the red liquid into his mouth. Peyton knew the feeling all too well, she had at least sprayed the same relief medicine into her mouth ten times since she got this crappy cold.

Lucas shivered slightly when he was done squirt the bitter remedy, which caused Peyton to laugh a little. She couldn't help being a little devilish when it came to Lucas's comfort.

He in turn smiled down at her, a sarcastic smile. "He, he- that made me laugh!" Lucas exclaimed in a girly voice obviously stereotyping her.

Peyton laughed even harder, which hurt a little since her congested chest revolted by the quick and exhausting movements. Because of this, she unconsciously placed her hand over her heart and sat up. Lucas, being the doll that he is, reached over her again, causing her to remain as still as a stuffed animal, and grabbed a green box and handed it to her.

"It's for your congestion build up in your chest," Lucas said pointing at the box, "it helped me a little."

Peyton smiled down at the box, "Thanks, I can sure use some clearing."

"What with your issues or your 'so called' perfect relationships gone miserably bad?" Lucas joked leaning back against his headboard. His eyes lit up playfully as he laughed at his own joke— which was totally lame in Peyton's book!

She chucked the green box at Lucas, "Funny, Mr. I-Think-I'm-Perfect-But-Really-I'm-A-Jackass-In-Disguise!" Peyton retorted with a sly smile on her face, royally enjoying his scandalized expression.

He placed his hand on his chest feigning pain where the box had hit him, "Ouch! I simply do not know how I will recover from such a hostile remark."

"What did I do? Shatter your ego?" Peyton asked playfully as she rolled onto her stomach and mischievously looked up at her best friend.

Lucas looked up in thought and then quickly down at her and simply whispered, "No."

Peyton pouted, "Aw too bad, and I was hoping you were going to start seeing a shrink."

He smiled down at her and then— out of no where— pounced on her.

Peyton let a very loud scream out as he tackled her causing her to roll off the and onto the floor, which in turn, he landed on her.

"Miss Sawyer," Lucas declared not getting off of her, "don't you know that you're my shrink?"

There was a mischievous twinkle in his eye but at the same time an intense, passionate gaze, too. Peyton was baffled by the mix between the two even though shrugged the evaluation off.

She laughed up at his goofy look that was now plastered across his face. But when the look had been removed, an awkward silence had fallen between the two. Since Lucas was on top of her, they both had a limit as to what to look at so their gazes had just stopped on one another, which was the source of the tension.

Peyton could feel his heart beat quicken and hers started to as well. Why was his heart racing? And moreover, why was hers escalating as well?

Soon Peyton felt scared. She didn't want their pure friendship to be dissipated once they took the next step, which was literally staring them in the face. Peyton needed this friendship for all kinds of support and care and if she didn't have it, Peyton couldn't possibly function correctly. And if it turned into a more risky relationship, like a romantic one, she could get burned in the end like she had last time. Oh, that memory was still fresh in her mind and heart.

Suddenly, Peyton felt a sneeze coming on and just as soon as she felt the tickle in her rosy nose, it burst forth.

The sneeze had amazingly broken the uncomfortable silence as well as the erupting buried emotions that scared the, excuse her French, shit out of her. Luckily, it dimmed the passionate look in Lucas's eyes and it caused him to become really embarrassed very quickly.

His face shined bright pink as he found his footing, "Oh, I'm sorry Peyt," Lucas said as he got up off of her, "I-I must've, ugh, blacked out there for a-a second."

Peyton smiled slightly and took a deep breath, "It's okay." She paused for a second just trying to control of the fears, emotions, and thoughts from overwhelming her.

By this time, Lucas had handed her his hand, but she chose to overlook that and got up on her own. And as soon as she was on her feet, she mumbled a quick "I gotta go— do something" and Peyton went into her room and closed the door quietly behind her.

She felt weak, and it wasn't because of the cold. Peyton was also feeling vulnerable even though she was in control of the situation. She was afraid of losing her closest and most loyal friend if they decided to go for it. There were too many risks, just too many! She didn't want to risk or taint their deep connection on something that could end terribly because of something so pitiful like what's for dinner or who holds the remote— for crying out loud!

No, Peyton wasn't going to risk it even though Lucas had always held her heart since their fateful junior year. Her emotions weren't going to confuse her to screw up yet again. She and Lucas were just going to be platonic friends and nothing more.

Peyton quickly walked over to her computer desk and picked up her sketch book and immediately started drawing the very baffling situation she was engaged in. She had drawn a fork in the road depicting all the negative aspects on the left road and all of the positive characteristics on the right road. Once she had seen the comparisons on paper, in plain view outside of her mind, she saw which one outweighed the other and she made up her mind.

"It's just too complicated and risky," she whispered to herself as she looked at the black charcoal drawing, "I won't do it."

**Author's Notes:**

Well, I'm baffled and amazed by the amount of reviews I received! I just want to say thank you so much for your support so early on and I hope this chapter lived up to your guys' expectations. If it didn't, then just yell at me or something and I'll improve for the next chapter, I promise.

Okay, well if you all wondering why Peyton is so protective of her friendship with Lucas is because he has always seem to be there for her in all aspects of her life ever since junior year when she pushed him away. He's always been there. Plus, she remembers how hurt she was when she found out that he quickly jumped to 'get some' so to speak with Nikki, a.k.a. Bar Slut. We all know that Peyton doesn't likely live and let live let alone believe what's done is done. She doesn't want to risk anything so important to her or when it's comfortably sitting in her life either. Hopefully that clears that up and if not, just ask me to elaborate more.

Well I just wanted to say thanks once again! I'm truly humbled by the feedback and I hope that you all won't be disappointed with this chapter. Hopefully, you didn't feel like I rushed anything yet!


	3. Shot Right Through My Heart

**Chapter Three**: Shot Right Through My Heart

Chapter Note: This chapter's title is from Hawthorne Heights' "Silver Bullet." It's an awesome song in the acoustic version so I would highly suggest you all check that song out.

When Peyton left his room yesterday morning Lucas was just shocked and fearful. Lucas knew that Peyton must've figured out his underlying feelings for her, but he didn't expect her to act as rashly as she did. His emotions were entangled with 'what ifs' that caused to him to be on edge the rest of that day and into the following night. His anxiety and heavy heart caused him to bite his nails excessively and pace much more than often.

He was so scared that he just ruined his relationship with his best friend. Lucas didn't know what overcame him when he was on top of her! It was like old feelings he had marooned just fled back through him unexpectedly. She was the most important aspect of his life and if he lost her then he lost the only thing that made him smile and made his heart leap. He couldn't lose her.

She had not so much as peek out of her room since it had happened. Lucas knew what she was doing though; she was brooding and sketching like she always did when a dilemma faced her. It tore him to pieces though. He knew that the longer she was in there the weaker their bond will become because she would build a looming wall between them.

"I'm an idiot!" Lucas whispered to himself for what seemed like the eightieth time since his old feelings evaded him.

At the moment, Lucas was sitting on his bed at an odd angle so he could stare at Peyton's bland white door to see when she would emerge. He had slow, melancholy music playing that he saved for heartbreaks or terrible catch-22s. "She Has No Time" by Keane eluded his senses and made his heart weigh even heavier. Wallowing in his own misery never seemed to help the situation, but it did help him evaluate the circumstances more even though through muddy waters.

Becoming irritated and restless, Lucas gave up on watching Peyton's immovable door; it started weeding away his hope for reconciliation. Instead, he went over to his door and shut it half-heartedly. He walked back over to his bed and slumped back down on it as his headache was becoming nastier. Staying up for almost twenty-four hours straight had not helped his cold much, on contrary, it made it entirely worse.

He looked over at his night stand and looked for some Tylenol to relieve his headache, but didn't find any. As a result, Lucas gingerly laid down and stared up at the ceiling blankly. A certain memory from junior year overwhelmed him.

_-Flashback-_

A bright, sunny morning would've painted a beautiful portrait of a happy day, but it somehow wasn't that realistic. Yes, Peyton had finally ruled out that her father wasn't dead after all, but that was soon overshadowed when she saw that her bracelet was missing.

They got in her car and sped back to the murky motel room that they had shared last night anxiously awaiting five o'clock to come upon them. When they got there, Peyton hastily tore at the sheets and blankets looking for her silver bracelet her father gave her.

"It has to be in here," she says earnestly out loud. A few seconds later she stops rapidly searching and picks up the bracelet.

Lucas feels some relief pour over him. He knew how much that bracelet meant to Peyton and if she had lost it, all sense of comfort would have escaped with it.

"Got it?" Lucas asked as she got off the bed and turned towards him as her fearful emotions start to get the better of her.

She nods slowly as tears start to swell up in her eyes and her chest starts to heave.

"Hey it's okay," Lucas says softly as sympathy starts to overwhelm him, "Everything's okay now, okay?"

He brings her soothingly into a hug for reassurance and support. Peyton was really like glass even though she acted tough on the outside to protect herself, so Lucas knew she needed this comfort.

Slowly, Peyton starts to shove off of Lucas to break the hug as she looks up at him. Her hazel distorted with tears show so much passion alone; his heart starts to beat heavily for her. Then suddenly, the unthinkable happens, Peyton lunges for him and kisses him. The kiss itself was mind-blowing and it caused to blow the top off the lid that encased his feelings for her and that he had had for at least a few months now.

Again, like the hug, Peyton breaks away and looks up at him hopefully and fearfully. Endearment soon causes Lucas to blackout all other worries and feelings and just follows his heart for the first time since the Scott party where he and Peyton finally their guards down. Warmth pours over his heart as he slowly starts to take her jacket off.

By the look on her face, Peyton seemed a little shocked, but then he could tell by the intense look in her eyes that she was feeling the exact same way he was feeling at that moment, free. As he finished taking her jacket off, they kissed again. The feeling that soared through his whole body was amazing causing his heart race with its speed.

Hastily, he whipped his jacket off and discarded it onto the floor without a second thought. The kiss was just so intoxicating and perfect, Peyton was perfect. He slowly sat her down as he broke from the kiss. He leisurely started to take off her jade-green shirt with ease and ravenously bent down and brought their lips together again. Lucas wasn't able to compare this passion fueled moment to any in which he and Brooke encountered. This was real and intense when his and Brooke's were fabricated and just physically based.

Luke then slowly started to lay he and Peyton down while never breaking from their kiss. Feeling her heart race like his was, was more elating and mesmerizing than the actual kiss itself now. He knew her feelings were matching his way beyond just a physical urge being fulfilled.

Gently, Lucas broke the kiss and moved down to her stomach amazed by its smoothness and he kissed it tenderly. Then he unhurriedly took off his baby blue t-shirt and laid back on top of Peyton. Their eyes made contact and each of them smile at one another contentedly. Finally, they kissed each other one again escalating emotions and racing hearts even more.

The touch of her bare skin against his sent chills up and down his spine causing his senses to fail. He leisurely pulled away from the affectionate kiss and started to kiss her neck sweetly. Soon afterwards he leans back and is stopped suddenly by Peyton's voice.

"Ow. Ow. My hair," she whispers slightly with pain entwined with it.

Lucas lowers his head a little, "Sorry." He smiles out of humor in the situation.

Peyton laughs lightly because of the uncoordinated state as she unintentionally tickles his neck as she unclasps his necklace bringing them even closer.

She then untangles the necklace from her hair and Lucas starts to feel a sinking feeling in his stomach once he sees the necklace. His smile slowly starts to disappear when Brooke finally occurs to him.

Peyton smiles up at him, "There."

"Brooke," Lucas says sullenly as he looks down at her.

Her smile fades a little making it awkward looking, "What?"

He thinks of a way to make his response a little bit more clear. "Brooke gave me that necklace." Lucas looks away slightly and then back down at Peyton seriously, "You know um… we should start heading back," practically shoving his heart back into solitude.

"Yeah," her awkward smile is still in place. Luke can tell she's confused, hurt, and shocked, but she's maintaining her cool.

"Okay," he says softly as he gets off of her finally and begins to clothe himself.

_-End Flashback-_

Out of no where, the phone rang. It caused Lucas to jump out of his skin because he was practically day dreaming and was rudely interrupted of it.

He groggily rolled over to his other night stand and picked up his black phone.

"Hello?" He tired asked as he brought the phone up to his ear.

"Hey, deathly ill friend!" Haley greeted cheerily, which made Lucas sick to his stomach since he was in the middle of wallowing in self-pity and she was ruining it. "You know that's the rumor flying around on campus, right? That the star player, Lucas Scott, is too sick to play this Friday's game against Duke, our biggest game of the season."

Lucas huffed loudly and then replied, "Hi Hales."

"Okay, what's wrong?" She asked right away sensing his irritated tone.

He rolled back onto his back and stared up at the ceiling trying to think of ways to avoid telling Haley what was wrong.

"Ugh, nothing. I'm just a stupid-ass idiot!" He said half-heartedly. "But let's not talk about it."

Lucas knew Haley wasn't going to let it slide, she never did. "No, Luke. You need to get it off of your chest."

"Haley," he said a little harshly than he intended so he paused to compose himself. "I just don't feel like talking about it right now or ever really."

"Whatever! Just give Peyton the phone then."

This time Luke didn't know what to do. He didn't want to go over to Peyton's room and act as if nothing had happened because something did happen. And, he didn't want to act edgy around her either.

"Call her cell," Lucas said roughly running his hand through his jagged hair.

Haley didn't respond at once, but came in a few seconds later probably with a smile on her face. "Ah, so your 'problem' has to do with Peyton seeing as you won't give her the phone."

"Hales!" Lucas replied impatiently as he through his hand up in the air out of exasperation.

"Alright, alright. I'll call Peyton and leave you alone to brood. Bye." Haley said defensively.

"Bye," Lucas said in a weary fashion.

He softly ran his fingers over his lips as if the daydream had been real and Peyton had just kissed him. The memory was as ripe as it had been that fateful day when their emotions finally clashed. He hadn't felt that real since then and thought he probably never would.

Then at that moment, everything came together like a puzzle before his eyes. He knew why he treasured that memory so much and why he wanted to kiss Peyton the morning before. Lucas had never gotten over Peyton; even when he chased after Brooke their senior year all he could help to do was compare her to Peyton's certain endearing attributes. And now here he finally understood the depth of his feelings for his best friend, love.

But right when he was starting to feel content, his heart dropped again when he thought of Peyton's escape the morning before. Frowning at the scene replaying in his mind Lucas turned over onto his right side and looked at his closed door brooding on why Peyton left so hurriedly. There were so many possibilities and knowing Peyton so well as he did, he knew that it was just as confusing to her as it was to him.

Slowly but surely, Lucas started to fall into a restless sleep as the music started to fade into the background of his mind.

**Author's Notes**:

Alright, I hope you all liked this chapter! It actually took me a while to get it to a point where I'm pleased to leave it this way, which took a few hours. The reason why I added the Flashback from "Crash Course in Polite Conversation" in is because I'm trying to compare how similar the two scenes are, the motel scene to my original L/P awkwardness. Hopefully that shows you the parallel clear enough.

Also, I needed Lucas to find out about his feelings about Peyton in this chapter. Even though last chapter made it seem as though he was clearly aware of what was happening, he didn't. Like I have in the beginning of this chapter, it shows that he had no idea what came over him to want to kiss his best friend and put their relationship in jeopardy.

Again, I hope you all liked this chapter. If you didn't and thought that I rushed the story somehow, please tell me that! I need to know how everyone feels about this story especially if you have constructive criticism. You all are awesome readers and I'm so lucky as to have you all read my story/stories. I hope I hear from you all soon!


	4. Though You'd Not Said Much

Chapter Four: Though you'd not said much, you said it all…

Chapter Note: This chapter's title is from the song "If You Asked" by Long-View, one of my favorite bands. They're seriously an amazing band and I'm not being biased either. If any of you have read my other on-going story "Further" you would know that that story was inspired by Long-View's song "Further." So yeah.

The room was completely silent. Usually it had angry punk rockers screaming at the top of their lungs or an emo song or two harmonizing for her inspiration. But not today; silence was the only music playing. Every now and then though, she would be able to hear a drip of a raindrop falling from a ledge above her window, which was the only interruption of the unusual silence of the room.

Peyton had finished her drawing late into the night and just stared blankly at it since then. She was conflicted, confused, and totally on edge. Even though she felt as if the drawing would've helped her make an ethical, rational choice it didn't. The drawing just inflicted more problems than her thoughts did before she drew it. So Peyton bore onto it as if she was looking for the hidden clue that would cause her to finally have an answer for herself.

Out of agitation, Peyton threw the drawing on the floor and just leaned back against the back of her chair limply. At that moment she finally heard the echoing of Keane's "She Has No Time" being played. A painful lump formed in her already sore throat when she heard it. Peyton knew that Lucas was agonizing, probably more so than she was even.

"I'm a self-centered bitch," she murmured to herself softly as if it were her conscious speaking instead.

She turned her face to the computer screen and in the corner of her eye she saw her favorite picture. It was of Lucas and herself after Lucas's first game of college ball. He was extremely sweaty and happy since he played brilliantly and won over the crowd in the first minute he stepped out on the court. She was laughing up at him since he was acting very goofily and macho, like he always did when he was playing around. That picture was priceless in her eyes and so was the memory.

At the thought of memories, Peyton let out a half-hearted huff. She had good ones, bad ones, sad ones, and happy ones. But really, she was tired of reliving the past—she did it since her mother died. Peyton lived in the past so much that she blamed herself and was sharp towards other just because she didn't want to get hurt again. You can't get burned if you never cared about something in the first place, right?

For the first time in nine hours, she got up out of her computer chair and threw herself down on her plump bed. She was exhausted no doubt, but for the first time in a long time, she wanted to be that way. Peyton always tried to just be rested and content with her 'sad' life that now she just wanted to be worn out by it.

She closed her eyes trying to be pleased with this state of exhaustion, but right when she felt as if it would be deeply embedded in her mind, her cell phone rang violently.

Grabbing her heart subconsciously for a moment, she then lunged over at her nightstand and picked up her cell. She saw 'Hales' written across the screen and Peyton immediately felt uneasiness in her stomach which wasn't because of her sickness.

She finally flipped her phone open and said a little too belligerently, "Hello?"

"Whoa! Lucas first and now you, but at least I was able to withstand a few words from him before being cut-off." Haley said as if Peyton was deliberately trying to make her feel unwanted.

Peyton let out a breath of exasperation and laid back down on her down fully. "I'm sorry, Hales. But you're just calling at the wrong time. I was in the middle of thinking and everything, and well, you know the rest."

"Yeah, yeah; I can honestly say I do," her friend responded sarcastically. "So what's eating you both?"

Peyton knew it was coming and everything, but she wasn't up for any conversation involving Lucas just yet. She had been thinking of him the entire night and she wasn't up for talking about him to someone who wouldn't understand where she was coming from. Haley always had things together even when she didn't. It was just a sort of control mechanism Haley was blessed with and that Peyton knew she would never be able to have ever.

"Nothing," Peyton responded plainly praying that Haley wouldn't pursue the topic and further.

At that point, Peyton began to cough rather fiercely. Her congested sinuses hadn't been cleared yet and seemed far worse than when the cold hit her.

"You alright, Peyt?" Haley asked laughing slightly. Peyton didn't understand how she could be getting comic relief from her illness.

Peyton paused a minute trying to catch her breath before answering. "Yeah, I'm alright _friend_."

This caused Haley to laugh more hysterically. "I'm sorry, but it's just that I've never heard or known of you to be sick before. So I just guess that it humors me in a weird way."

"Or in a psychotic way!" Peyton said bitterly covering her tired eyes with her ink covered hand.

"Okay, okay, I'll stop," Haley announced while trying to calm herself down. She cleared her throat, "So, what's really wrong. Don't try to patronize me with you 'nothing' B.S."

Peyton knew that she wouldn't be able to deter her friend away from the subject; Haley knew how to be stubborn and persistent just as much as she could be.

"Jeez, Haley—I just don't know how I'll be able to describe this to you. I can't even understand or make any of it myself!" She said incredulously as if she was shocked and exasperated at the very thought of it.

Haley didn't respond quickly, she was collecting her thoughts undoubtedly. "Well," she began gently, "I won't know what you're going through unless you tell me.

Peyton huffed loudly and rolled over onto her stomach and looked out her one window blankly. "Fine," she answered in a defeated manner and started to recant the story to her friend. "Well, you know how Luke and I can share the same bed without any problems, right? Well, when I woke up this morning, I don't know why I felt this way, but I wanted to know how Lucas's hand felt holding mine!"

"So did you?" Haley asked with obvious interest in her voice, but Peyton could tell that she was doing her best to keep it from being over-zealous.

Smiling to herself slightly, "Yeah, but only for like a second because he started to wake up and then I just went crazy and pretended to be asleep." The thought embarrassed her and made her laugh—she wasn't too goofy when it came to boys and PDA much, but this case was laced in it.

Haley began to laugh at the thought, "Is that all you are ignoring each other for because if it is, that's pretty ridiculous!"

"No," Peyton said with complete seriousness. "Actually, something happened after that."

Again Peyton paused trying to make sure her composure wouldn't be lost when she was retelling the story to Haley.

"Seeing as Lucas and I are super mischievous and sarcastic, we were messing around with each other. Well, all was going perfectly normal until he tackled me." Peyton couldn't believe how untainted or biased her tone was; it was as if she was just reading a book and couldn't relate to it. But that all changed when she came upon the scariest part. "I landed on the ground and he landed on top of me. We just stared at each other as if we were enduring an unchecked emotional area." Peyton could see his majestic blue eyes in her mind as clearly as they were at that moment. So much passion was encased in them; it was truly a beautiful sight to see. "And then he started to lean down to kiss me and then I sneezed and ran away," she finished quietly as if she couldn't believe what had happened in the end.

Haley gasped loudly and then started to yell at Peyton, "I can't believe you ran away from a perfectly good situation!"

"What do you mean?" Peyton asked trying to pull some information of Haley that she may had not known.

"C'mon, Peyt! Add two and two together! You can't tell me that you haven't seen the way Lucas looks at you or they way he treats is how he would treat me." Haley spewed quickly, trying to knock some sense into Peyton.

Peyton pushed herself off of her bed and started to pace swiftly throughout her room, but didn't say anything in response.

"He hasn't gotten over you, even though he thinks he has, he hasn't. I'm guessing he finally realized that yesterday or at least today." Haley continued on informing Peyton.

At hearing this, Peyton froze. All of her bottled up feelings finally made sense. She had kept Lucas on an unobtainable pedestal that no one could reach, not even Jake. Yet, she always shoved her feelings from him each time she felt strongly for him.

"Damn it!" Peyton whispered ferociously as she began to pace again.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Haley asked finally shutting up from her own rant.

Starting to bite her nails out of nervousness and stupidity, Peyton said, "I don't know why I'm so afraid of him—of us! I've always kept my feelings for Lucas since junior year, but I just buried them to keep from a tumultuous friendship with Brooke. Then, slowly, I just started to call them as being just best friend feelings—like I'm supposed feel an odd tension with a guy as my best friend." She sank herself back into her computer chair, "Ugh! I'm such an idiot! Why do I always screw up the best things in my life?"

For moment, nothing was said, not a word was spoken, but then Haley just started to crack up hysterically. "Oh my gosh! I can't believe how oblivious you two have been." Haley continued to laugh with a crazed behavior that a mental patient would show if they had a whacko idea. "What in the hell were you two thinking all this time?"

Peyton started to get pissed off now. "Oh ha-ha, Haley! C'mon, when I moved in I already had a boyfriend since coming up in the spring on senior year and he had his basketball team. Then he lost Keith and he wasn't the content, broody Scott any longer. I guess I finally felt a connection with him that no one was able to have with me. I don't know! I guess we just thought we became best friends or whatever." Peyton put her head in her free hand and grated her teeth together. "Hales, what should I do?"

"Don't ask me! I don't want the blame to be put on me if it blows up in your face," Haley said all in one breath defensively.

"Please! You know I wouldn't be that belligerent towards you." Peyton cried back; she needed as much advice as she could get and Haley was the advice-giver.

Haley huff loudly, "Oh alright, but I swear Peyton if you even start getting pesky with me I'll hang up so fast you wouldn't know what hit you." She paused as if gathering her thoughts with sincerity. "I would go to him, break the ice first—he's playing 'She Has No Time' by Keane for crying out loud, Peyton! So he's wishing you would do the tough part; you should too since you abandoned him without an explanation."

That wasn't what Peyton wanted to hear, but she held her tongue from becoming mutinous. "I don't know, Haley. I wouldn't know what to say or what to do—I'd just be a babbling idiot."

"At least you'll be a babbling idiot rather than a heartbreaker!" Haley replied exasperatedly.

After a few seconds passed without a word, Peyton finally sucked up the courage to agree with her friend. "Okay."

Peyton could here Haley clapping excitedly on the other end of the phone. This slightly pissed Peyton off a little more but she didn't voice her irritation to her ignorant friend.

"Well, I guess I'll go over and—well—you know," Peyton said glumly; she was never much of the compromising and make-up type. People usually came to her to tie loose ends because she didn't have the guts to confront them.

"Good luck!" Haley said in her usual cheery way as if she thought it would make Peyton more enthusiastic about the situation.

As she opened her bedroom door quietly, "Yeah bye," she said blandly and hung up. Oddly enough, Peyton didn't hear the sad melody of Keane playing any longer so her curiosity was struck. She walked hesitantly over to her best friend's door and stood there for a moment trying to listen if she could make out any noises, but nothing came from within.

"Luke?" Peyton asked as she opened the door only to find that Lucas wasn't in his room. Highly intrigued on where he was, Peyton decided to check if he was out in the kitchen sitting in his favorite little nook where he read most of the time. So when she reached the kitchen, no Lucas was to be found. Instead she saw a single notebook paper on the counter.

Peyt-girl,

I'm at practice for Friday's game. I just had to get out and clear my head even if I can'tbreathe all that well. I'm sorry about yesterday; I don't know what came over me—I'm such a jackass, like usual, right? I hope you'll forgive me and I promise I'll make it up to you even if you hate all of the movies I rent.

Love,

Jackass, a.k.a. Lucas

Peyton read over the small note quickly with much consternation.

"For crying out loud!" Peyton said vehemently to herself, "I'm the jackass!" And once she said this, Peyton grabbed her keys and dashed out the door without caring how she looked, no matter how sickly or grungy. All that was on her mind was reconciling with Lucas and showing him that she was the stupid one in this situation, that she was the jackass because she had run from him. Now he probably had finally accepted that they were to only be 'just friends' and this was all because she was too much of a coward to talk to him.

Peyton hopped in her classic Mercury and sped dangerously fast down the street towards the basketball stadium.

**Author's Notes: **Okie doke! Well, this chapter took me forever to be pleased with it. I had to rewrite the ending about two to three times to get it to this one, which I like much more than the other ones. I thought Peyton should finally have to see that the nickname she dubbed Lucas should really be her nickname. I know that she could herself a 'bitch' earlier in the chapter, but she mainly did that out of guilt rather than out of passionate fervor, like how she started to call herself a jackass. Hopefully I didn't just confuse on that! LoL! Hmm, what else? Oh yes! I'm sorry that it's taken me about a month or so to just update but, to tell you the truth, my life's hectic. School, studying endlessly for AcaDec, and then updating three stories at the same time and writing a one-shot here and there is pretty hard to balance. But that shouldn't be any excuse, right? Well, I just hope you all forgive me for my lateness.

Thanks so much just for reading and sticking by me! You all rock and I hope to hear from y'all sometime.


	5. Your Love is Gonna Drown

Chapter Five: Your Love is Gonna Drown

Chapter Note: This chapter was inspired by Death Cab for Cutie's "Marching Bands of Manhattan". Also, Lucas is going to be a little ruthless in the beginning of this chapter, so I'm giving you the heads up. I'd just like to apologize about my laziness with updating all of my stories! I truly am sorry. Anyways, I just hope you like the ending of the fic; tell me if you think it was too rushed. Thanks!

The rhythm of the ball making contact with the court and then back up to his hand with a split second was calming to Lucas. Even when life seemed to be at its hardest, basketball always seemed to smooth its wrinkly edges, making it easier on Lucas.

Surprisingly enough, the gym was empty. He expected to see it full and lively with two-a-days since they were going to be playing Duke, but then again, coach must've told the rest of the team to rest for the upcoming game and not to get sick too. But that quietness the enveloped the gym other than the thud of the bouncing ball was quite comforting.

Though even when he wanted basketball to keep his mind off of what had happened yesterday, it didn't and it caused his heart to ache incomprehensively much just by the what ifs surrounding the problem he put himself in. If anything, basketball was making him focus more on his hard spot than wallowing in self-pity.

Suddenly, Lucas just took off full speed down to the opposite end of the court, dribbling hurriedly. Flashes of Peyton looking frightened and horrified at him almost kissing her continued to play through his mind during his tiring sprint. Finally, when Lucas reached the bucket he jumped up and tried to slam dunk the ball, but he missed sloppily.

"Damn it!" Lucas yelled just as he landed. Anger, bitterness, and the fact of possibly never being able to be with Peyton—let alone be her friend—caused Lucas to grab the ball and throw it at the closest team chair, which made it topple over fiercely.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you good sportsmanship?" A too familiar voice asked from behind him.

Lucas bowed his head and wiped the sweat off of his brow, "Peyton." He didn't turn around to face her, he was too afraid of what would overcome him.

"Yeah," she said softly, awkwardly. Peyton walked past him and retrieved the still rolling ball and gave it back to him timidly, "You'll probably be needing this."

Not even bothering to look at her, Lucas took the ball back and mumbled a quick "thanks" in response. He didn't know why he was acting so standoffish towards her, but he guessed that she deserved a little indifference since she left him hanging there without any explanation or comfort for an entire day, just wallowing in doubt and failure.

Peyton huffed slightly and started to wring her hands a little bit out of anxiety. "Luke," she began, "I honestly really don't know where to begin."

At this Lucas began to laugh rudely, "You? Peyton Sawyer not knowing where to begin to shred a guy's heart to pieces?" He looked straight at her and spat, "Never." Lucas knew at this point he was being too harsh, and when he saw the tears beginning to form in Peyton's brilliant hazel eyes, he regretted his actions. But he didn't apologize; he only turned around and headed back towards the hoop.

He then heard footsteps following him—Peyton was pissed and he knew it.

"I guess I deserve that, don't I?" Peyton said seething mad, but she didn't wait for a response. "I've always been the one to run or hide when things get too complicated between us!" She was now standing in front of him and the basket so that she could have his entire attention. Peyton was becoming a little emotional and to keep from crying she looked down at the court for a second. "But I'm not hiding anymore," she whispered earnestly as she looked back up at him.

Lucas felt compassion for Peyton knowing that he had been a complete ass to her for no reason at all. He shouldn't have treated her like a verbal punching bag, especially if she was as vulnerable as she always had been, which was so endearing and beautiful to him. He started to apologize, but she cut him off by a wave of her hand.

"Luke, I know I did the wrong thing when I ran out of the room and I regret that decision," she said simply. "And then avoiding you by locking myself in my room didn't make the situation any better. But you must know that I was afraid of losing or tainting our strong friendship just by that kiss!" Tears were finally falling freely as she was exposing her soul to him, but she didn't care she just let them roll down her face silently. "You have always been the person I could run to, Luke, and if I lost you over a stupid fling that ended horribly, then who would I run to? I need you so much and I was afraid of that being lost."

Lucas nodded his head in understanding. He finally knew that she just wanted to be friends and nothing more—it killed him to think of never being able to love her like he knew he could, but it would be worse for him if she wasn't in his life. "I understand," he started shakily, "I understand you completely and I'm sorry for even putting you in this situation." He looked up at the ceiling with tears starting to sting his eyes, "And I promise I won't ever, ever bring this upon you again."

Peyton began to shake her head as if saying 'what are you talking about'. "No, no, no! You don't understand, Luke," at his she grabbed Lucas's free hand softly, "I'm saying I love you!"

Lucas couldn't believe what he had just heard. Yes, he fully comprehended what she had just said, but her plainly saying that she wanted to be with him was mind-blowing. Twenty-four hours ago, she was horrified and panic-stricken with him almost kissing her, but now it was quite the contrary.

"W-what?" Lucas stammered quickly looking at her amazed.

Peyton smiled up at him goofily and laughed, "I love you, Lucas Scott."

His heart soared from a depressed state to a new limit of joy. A smile spread across his face and before he could stop himself from doing it, Lucas kissed Peyton passionately. It was the best kiss he had ever had the pleasure of enduring because it was _theirs_. Something that they hadn't had in such a long time and finally it could be something they were able to do, to have, to show. Love was a great thing.

Lucas broke from the kiss and leaned his forehead against hers and whispered hoarsely, "I love you too, Peyt."

At that moment, Peyton let out a powerful sneeze. Some would say that a perfectly romantic moment was ruined because of that sneeze, but to Lucas, it only made him see that it was fate for both of them to have been holed up in that apartment of theirs with a horrible cold and finally see that they had true love standing in front of them for the longest time.

**Author's Notes:** Yeah, well that's it. It was a short chapter/ender but I really like the last paragraph, so I decided to not add anything on to it just in case I ruined it somehow. Lol. Well, I just want to say thank you to ya'll because you guys have been so nice and gracious just to read my story. I can't express to you all just to know that there's someone out there reading it and appreciating it. Plus, go Leyton! Yeah, us Leytoners really haven't had too much dealt our way, so yeah, I felt like cheering.

Well, I also want to say that I'm going to try to finish "Further" soon, so you'll be seeing more updates on that story because there are a few more chapters of that story that I need to write. And then when that story's finished, I'm going to finish my _Cruel Intentions_ fic "Sweetest Goodbye" before working on "Ten Year Reunion: The Class of 2006". I'll have my plate full of finishing and working on stories, but that's my fault-- which leads me to apologizing again! I'm so, so, so sorry for not updating. School got out of hand, so that left very sparce free time for me, so I just vegged out half of the time. So yeah, but since it's getting easier and you'll be seeing updates. So I guess you'll be seeing more from me soon enough. :)


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